i dont know if this question has already been asked, but i’ve always wondered why women aren’t allowed to lead prayer? I’ve asked a few elders but they’re responses dont make sense..there has to be a legitimate reason for this. Can anyone explain and/or provide Quranic aayats regarding this? Thanks
Re: women leading prayer
I suppose for the same reason they are excused from fasting or farz prayers at certain times.
Re: women leading prayer
im not talking about like all the time. They're never allowed to do it (when a man is present), right
Re: women leading prayer
Only for a women only congregation.
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I know, so why not in front of men?
Re: women leading prayer
There is separation between men and women - so there would be esp in prayer. Considering all the modesy etc concerning womens issues, I dont think a woman can lead a bunch of guys. Common sense here. I dont have any Quranic ayahs.
(dont think its an issue about being inferior - which is what some people think.)
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modesty? b/c she stands up in front of men? men have to be modest too. Besides, during Namaaz u have to look down the entire time.
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no its not about inferiority, i mean it cant be..which is why im wondering what the actual reason is
Re: women leading prayer
Ask Allah Mian.
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i wish
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Exactly. I mean I think thats why we have the whole segregation issue. If there were prayers with males and females mixed - or a female imam , it might I think be distracting. Plus shes going to be kneeling etc. All the ayas about women and how they must protect themselves from strange men- it just wouldnt seem right for her to be the imam.
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so ur saying its to protect her from any bad thoughts which might possibly occur among the men
what about any bad thoughts that might occur among women towards a male imam? he kneels down as well
also, namaaz is between u and God, what does the imam's gender have to do with it. Like I said ur supp to look down the entire time u pray..so..
Re: women leading prayer
when a male imam is leading and if there are women behind him - they are often behind some sort of purdah. They are not directly behind him.Theres usually something between them. Unless ofcourse its the wife or mother etc reading behind him. So they would not see him?
Not everyone looks down the entire time. Plus women are just not allowed to lead men. I think there are in fact Quranic ayahs or hadith about it. I will try to look them up. And there are a few differences between how women pray comparedto men- subtle yes- but they exist. Not sure how they would affect the imam plus the jammah. But anyhow. Its just the whole woman being among all these strange men is weird.
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sometimes at small gatherings there is no pardah, so women can see the imam when they stand behind him
but yeh any Quranic references would be helpful, i'd prefer that over any hadith
Re: women leading prayer
I believe Al Tabari (d. 310 AH) is one of a rarity of scholars who held that it is permissible for a woman to be the imam in prayer in absolute terms, i.e. for both women and men (not sure at this time if he stipulates certain conditions however). This differs with the overriding majority view. One reason for the slight disagreement is based on how to understand the following report (which i've abridged):-
"When the Prophet (saw) proceeded to the battle of Al Badr...
Umm Waraqa sought permission from the Prophet (saw) to have a mu'azin in her house.
He (saw) appointed a mu'azin to make the call to prayer in her house, and he commanded her to lead the people of her house in prayer.
Abd Al Rahman said, 'I saw her mu'azin and he was an old man.'"
(See Sunan Abu Dawud, Vol. 1, #591 and #592)
A couple of initial thoughts:-
It's not too farfetched to assume that "the people of her house" would include men as well. Someone could counter by saying that since everyone was leaving for Al Badr there wouldn't be any men (except old men and young boys) left behind so that's why she was allowed to lead the prayer. This would entail that the Prophet's (saw) command and the permission granted to her was of a temporary nature and that once the men returned it no longer applied. The onus here would be on the claimant to prove that the command/permission was later rescinded.
Again, it is not too farfetched to assume that the "old man" who made the call to prayer joined them in the salah as well.
If I recall, i think the conclusion drawn by Al Sanani (d. 1182 AH) in his work Subul al Salam is probably the most agreeable. Rather than taking the report to grant permission to women in absolute terms it should be taken to mean that she may lead the "people of her house" (males included) or any other mahrams in prayer but not non-mahrams (unless elderly).
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Wasnt she a hafiza plus her jamaah consisted of boys that were very young- not baligh? I mean wasnt this a very rare/special exception/case to the rule?
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^ Well, the man making the azan certainly wasn't young and one would presume he prayed with them. I don't see that it has to be any kind of special exception if it is taken to mean a woman can lead her household in prayer (and not just any non-mahram males). But to repeat, it is the overriding minority view.
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that doesnt really answer my Q, but thanks for trying
Re: women leading prayer
My understanding of it is as follows.
Congregational prayers require efforts and sacrifice at times. It’s Allah’s blessings on women that He gave her choice to join ongregation but if she prays alone in her house at her convenience without having to worry about prayer being missed in congregation, she gets more rewards.
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I agree with Ameer Hamzah, and to add to that, think about it... If a Muslim woman was obligated to pray all 5 prayers with congregation, how would she manage?
Imagine a lady who's got 3 kids, she's got to wake up early every morning to join in on Fajr salaat at 5, wake the kiddies and get em all ready (help em with the clothes, hats, boots, snow coats and pants, etc), get ready herself, warm up the car in the freezing cold,...
It would be awfully painful to repeat that 5 times a day and it would also prove to be time-consuming for her. There is a reason and explanation for everything in Islam, and that is why women have to been given the advantage to benefit from rewards equal to those of men (who attend namaz in the Masjid) in the comfort of their homes.
Islam is supposed to make sense out of everything while we Muslims just try and complicate our lives for nothing.
Another reason why women cannot lead men is because of that time of the month. If you have a female (Imaama I guess you'd call her), and she's "off-duty", you'd have to find her a substitute every month and Muslim women often get embarassed just at the thought of strangers knowing about her monthy cycles and its timings.
The position in Rukuh and Sajda are also embarassing if you're leading a coupla hundred men in Salaat. They might easily get distracted too by the presence of the opposite gender.